Jacob said: "Carry... the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds. " Gen. 43:11.
When Jacob sent his sons to Egypt, hoping to receive some favors there, it is interesting to see that the gifts he sent included almonds. In those days nothing was known of vitamins and other nutrients which almonds contribute to health, but this was a wise choice, as we now know, for these tasty nuts contain minerals as well as vitamins and other nutrients, and so represented a valuable gift.
An orchard of almond trees is a beautiful sight when loaded with fragrant, pinkish-white blossoms surrounded by shiny, pointed leaves. These blossoms soon develop into fruit that, in its first stages, looks something like a small, unripe peach. This fruit has a silvery-green rind (soft at first, but turning leathery and hard) which surrounds the nut that is forming inside. This hard outer covering, or hull, finally splits open when fully ripe, curling downward to let the nut drop out. This yellowish nut, with which most of us are familiar, has a soft shell that is easily broken open to get at the edible almond.
Almonds are enjoyed all over the world, whether they are eaten plain, roasted, or used in desserts, candy and food products. They also provide an oil for cooking purposes and another product which can be seen in the small bottles on grocers' shelves called "almond extract," which is used for flavoring certain foods.
In addition to the sweet-almond trees of California and southern Europe, many bitter-almond trees are grown in the Mediterranean and tropical countries, mainly as shade trees. However, their nuts are also used in making certain perfumes and cosmetics valued by the ladies, as well as in cough syrups, soaps and a variety of other things. But these almonds are far too bitter for eating whole, even when roasted.
These popular nuts remind us of the third day of creation when the Lord God created the first trees told of in Gen. 1:11. In the 29th verse of that chapter, Adam was informed, "Behold, I have given you... every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat [food]." It was there that almonds, and all other trees, got their start, and in God's goodness they have kept on growing to our present time, providing nutritious food for untold numbers of people.
In Rom. 8:32, we read: "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Have you thanked Him for His goodness in creation and for the best gift of all, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Savior of those who put their trust in Him?